Wow! Thanks so much, Christina. It does. :)

I'd like to know... pretty please. :bigear:

Math Mammoth might have some reasonably priced options.

Angel, I know of a few mamas that use page protectors and wipe-off markers so they only have to purchase one book. Just a thought. ;)

Our situation is such that there are very few lessons with unused extra practice and/or review sheets. When there are, I find it's only in the first several weeks of the program where the concepts are easier. As they progress, they usually end up using the majority if not all of them. Purchasing the student workbook for each dc is essential for us.

I felt we got a great value and enjoyed: Math: Copying the Facts History: Ancient Times Complete Notebooking Set Medieval World Combo - Notebooking Pages I've purchased a few other things, but never really used them.

Based on your dd's comments and agreeing with many pps, I'd go with BJU. It does seem as if she understands her own learning style. my 2 cents,

Depending on the dc, my lean would be towards either My Father's World or Bob Jones.

I don't know if you desire a Christian worldview, but have you heard of Heart of Dakota's Beyond Little Hearts for His Glory or My Father's World's Adventures? The reading is light compared to Sonlight and others. My 2 cents,:)

:iagree: with everyone else. When my guys listened to a sample, we didn't like it at all.

Deb and Angie, Thank you! This is very helpful too. You've given me some great suggestions and affirmed what I thought initially - I won't be using two cores. My boys aren't big on read-alouds as it is. ;) Thanks again,

Laurel, Thank you so much! That was very helpful. And I may do as you suggest and add in appropriate level books for my 10yo. That's a practical solution and he's familiar with narration and notebook pages. Btw, I love that you read while on the exercise bike. The problem for me would be that I don't think the people at the gym would appreciate me bringing the boys in while I work out. :lol: Seriously though, maybe I need to get one for the home. I do not like working out in public. Thanks again, :)

I'm looking at SL 7 for next year. My ds will be 13. I'm looking at what we're doing now, which is separate curriculum for each subject vs. the complete SL 7 Core. I always thought SL would be way too demanding, but when I think of it vs. a separate Bible, Bible memory, literature, reading comprehension, history, poetry study, and writing program, it doesn't seem so unrealistic. My questions are these: 1. How long do your students work in these subjects? 2. Is the history portion to be read aloud? (SOTW etc...) 3. How much time for reading aloud is required? 4. Is it a challenge to do the read-alouds with young ones? (The other boys will be 10 and 3.) 5. Are two cores realistic? 6. Do I need to add a grammar study? 7. Besides grammar, would I only need to add math and science? Any thoughts/advice are appreciated, :)

I'm the odd-man out here, but this is one reason why we dropped it. (Edit: We used WWE 1 in it's entirety.) While I love and utilize many PHP products, this just did not work for this particular ds. I wanted it to so badly as I think it's one of the very best writing progrmas available for the Grammar Stage, but when he groaned every time we pulled the book out, I knew I had to re-evaluate. Still, I agree with the others. I'd say stick it out for a while. However, if you find your dc is frustrated consistently, you may need to set it aside for a while or look for something else. Fwiw, my ds is highly visual and I think that added to his frustrations. My 2 cents,

9yo ds is finishing up his 3rd week and we love it too! We are loving it for the reasons you describe. :) My only complaint is that we didn't find it sooner.

My boys wouldn't even attempt them. I think they're nice, but they don't like crafts and this was just too close to that category for them. My 2 cents,:)

Here's what's working or has worked for my 9yo: Math: CLE Math - He *loves* it. It has graphs and illustrations without being over-stimulating and plenty of whitespace. Funny, Math U See did not work for him. I think it's the lack of pictures within the worktext. Reading: Just about anything with illustrations and/or photographsworks for him. He has found several Winter Promise titles very appealing. He's presently reading on of the "If You Lived.." Series. Spelling: Bob Jones is working well for him this year. English/Grammar: The jury's still out on this one as we are only in our second week, but we chose Intermediate Language Lessons together. He said that the pages aren't as busy and it doesn't "overwhelm" him. He has done very well and I'm presently surprised. Science: He's thriving with Bob Jones. History: He's also thriving with Our Nation Under God from CLP. I was eavesdropping today when he told his older db that history is his favorite subject. (Music to a mama's ears. :)) All in all, I'd say that what I've learned over the course of his schooling is: Reading aloud must be chosen carefully. I either need to make it very short and sweet, asking questions as we go along and/or have a copy of the text for him to read along with me. Otherwise, he just checks-out. Hence, he does very well reading independently. I try to keep reading aloud strictly to character, devotionals, and Bible readings. He thrives on maps, illustrations, graphs, photographs etc.... So, I purpose to find sources with the aforementioned. When I am giving one-on-one instruction, I keep a white-board handy to write or illustrate whatever I can. My 2 cents,

Heart of Dakota :)

Congratulations on your decision! Cathy Duffy's "Top 100" is an excellent place to start and the other ladies have mentioned some great options as far as curriculum. I just wanted to mention a couple more options: Christian Light Education and Christian Liberty Press (some of their publications can be found at CBD.com for even less) They are both very affordable and from a Christian worldview. We use some of both in our homeschool. I hope you'll find plenty of encouragement and support here. :)

Just another "Welcome". :) You'll find a lot of support and encouragement here, but it sounds as if you're already doing a fine job. Many blessings,:grouphug:

The first one that comes to mind is Christian Light Education (CLE). There are a lot of happy users on these and other forums. We are using the math and find it to be excellent. I will caution you though that they are advanced and dc may place a grade or even two below level. Could you tell us more about her schooling style and/or preferences? Traditional, Classical, or Charlotte Mason? Christian or Secular? That might help narrow the options down some. Edit: I need to type faster as I see now that OhElizabeth already mentioned CLE. :-) Warmly,

Thanks for the update, Sue. May He continue to bless you and yours. :)

Lori D., What a wonderful list. Thank for sharing this. :)

:) Yep, mirrors they are.

I couldn't agree with you more. We've found Leading Little Ones to God, Training Hearts, Teaching Minds, and the series called Train Up a Child by Kaye Freeman to be wonderful sources. We're also looking forward to using Summit/Apologia's new book, Who is God? But, what I've found is that my dh's and my walk with Christ has been the single most influential thing. When we grow, they grow. I've felt very convicted in this. God has shown me that the weaknesses I see in them are really weaknesses of my own. Humbling. :blush: